Walking the Walk

Mitt Romney has fallen on his sword for the good of the party. On the radio the pundits were all effusive in thier praise of Romneys speech as he essentially admitted defeat. I hope that he was telling the truth and his stepping down was a matter of principles. If not it will just make him the latest and highest profile of the crop of "make the best of it" GOP partisans.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that the folks arguing that we should hold our nose and vote for McCain are being realists. The pragmatic, strategic, move would be to do just that. But, why?

Is it true that McCain is more "conservative" than Obama or Clinton? Yeah. Not by much from what I can see, but yeah he is. The problem I have is that basically people are calling for everyone to compromise principle and vote McCain because "the Party" needs us to be united against the Democrats.

Others will tell us that we can elect congressmen who will keep McCain in check. Bunk, we didn't do it before, and I don't believe we will do it now. I am certain that those folks mean well. I am certain they are good people trying to make the best of a bad situation. I don't mean any disrespect at all towards them or their ideas. The problem is that it is, to me at least, a defensive position.

Instead I will propose that we take thier idea and run with it. Call and write your Congress Members and tell them that if they don't get with the program you will not only not vote for em, you will actively work against them.

If you have a primary coming up, vote your conscience. In my case that means I will vote for Ron Paul since he is the only one in my opinion that truly values our Constitution. I don't agree with everything he says, but I believe that he is not one to compromise principles that are rooted in the Constitution. And that is what this country needs far more than any one individual. I doubt he will win, but I will be able to live with myself the next day.

If you hold your nose with one hand, and vote with the other; Which hand is holding onto your principles? If you suborn your personal integrity for the sake of "the party" how will you look in the mirror?

Hopefully a combination of low turnout, or massive write ins will send a message to one of the parties. Hopefully they will understand that business as usual will not work.

Better to go down fighting for your beliefs than to stand bowed by the loss of your convictions and principles.